Suburbicon [2017] ★½

When a movie is written by the Coen brothers and directed by George Clooney, you’d expect something at least decent. Alas, “Suburbicon” fails on every possible level, stranding a good cast that includes Matt Damon, Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac. The setting of a 1950’s suburban community offers great possibilities, but the result left me wanting more. The period atmosphere is rich (anyone who knows me probably knows how much I love this era), but I kept asking myself what was missing. Unfortunately, I realized that the problem was in the story itself. It’s dull and recycled from better Coens movies. Matt Damon plays an everyday man who finds himself in hot water when a couple of thugs invade his home one night and murder his wife. What happens next is a mess, and I found myself losing interest in the story and its characters only halfway through. It’s obvious that Clooney and his collaborators tried to put a lot of effort into this crime drama, but it did not pay off. “Suburbicon” is a misfire and one of the year’s most disappointing films.